Freelance Writing Myths Debunked

Common Misconceptions about Making Money via Online Writing

Sep 1, 2009

This article explains the misconceptions about freelance work and offers insights into the freelance world for anyone looking to make money writing online content.

Every few years, especially in the midst of a recession, there are a flurry of reports in the mainstream media about how freelancing is the answer to short term job loss. These articles almost always tout how easy it is to become a freelance writer and that it’s the ideal “job” for stay-at-home moms and dads, for people looking to supplement their income while working full time, for students who want to write “on the side” along with their studies and for people looking for a bit of income until they get a “real” job.

While it’s true that most of the above categories can and do make a reasonably good living from freelancing, long term freelance writing is not a piece of cake, especially if you want to sustain a family on it. Freelancing takes time, commitment, a professional attitude and the ability to effectively market yourself.

Myth #1: Freelancing Doesn’t Require a Routine or Much Discipline

The typical work at home freelancer is featured as a pajama-wearing, coffee mug-toting person with feet up on desk, leisurely typing away on a laptop at 3am in the morning! While it’s true that a freelancing professional may keep flexible timings and work from almost anywhere and at any time, what’s often not highlighted is that a freelancer must build a routine within this "freedom-space". Freelancers need to have a schedule to keep up with their work load and commitments, even if that means scheduling work for 3am and taking client calls while grocery shopping!

Freelancers often have to manage multiple assignments simultaneously. Then they have to cope with the commitments and responsibilities of home life, social life, and fitting in some personal and vacation time. All these duties and obligations mean that a freelancer is constantly performing a juggling act!

For this reason, organizational tools and calendars are really a freelancer’s best friend. Also necessary is invoking some discipline into the routine, since the freelancer is his or her own boss and there’s really no outside pressure to get the job done. Freelancers have to develop non-procrastination tactics, be able to self-motivate, develop routines that work, and enforce all these practices on a regular basis.

Myth #2: Freelancing is Free Of Cost

Often people foray into the world of freelance writing expecting little or no barriers to entry in terms of cost. The same people are then flabbergasted when asked to pay on bidding sites or pay for memberships to view jobs. They usually compare freelance bidding sites to traditional job posting sites, where the latter does not require any fee to view jobs. The same people then wonder about the benefits of keeping up with membership when they’re not getting any or many jobs.

Well, here’s the real deal. To become a successful freelancer requires some start-up costs, just like any other business would. The costs are mainly for marketing and visibility. Just like a business owner needs to advertise his products and services, so does a freelancer. Bidding sites expect payment so that a freelancer’s portfolio, profile and proposals are visible to a buyer. Therefore this set-up is really not comparable to a traditional job search; rather it is comparable to a business-owner’s approach, which brings up the next point.

A freelancer has to bear all the costs of doing business, be it promoting the business, social networking, accounting, bookkeeping, writing proposals, paying for technical support and broadband internet, phone charges (although some have clients pay for calls) and general administrative, marketing, financial and business building tasks. All this results in a larger than expected cost outlay and opportunity cost investment whch must be factored into a freelancer's rates.

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